The Duke University Energy Initiative has selected its second cohort of Energy Data Analytics PhD Student Fellows, which will include doctoral students in civil and environmental engineering, computer science, earth and ocean sciences, and electrical and computer engineering.

The latest episode of Ways & Means, a podcast presented by the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, looks at who will take the hardest hit financially from climate change and whether anything can be done about it. The episode features an interview with Billy Pizer, an environmental economist with joint appointments as a professor at the Sanford School and as a faculty fellow at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

The Internet of Water (IoW) envisions a world engaged in sustainable water resource management and stewardship enabled by open, shared, and integrated water data and information. The IoW is building a dynamic and voluntary network of communities and institutions to connect data producers, hubs, and users to enable the discovery, accessibility, and usability of water data and information.

After a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Energy, Dr. Eric Rohlfing will join Duke this fall as an executive in residence. He will help advise efforts by university leadership and faculty to develop and execute a strategy for advancing the energy sciences at Duke. Drawing on his experience at ARPA-E, Rohlfing will advise university leaders on cultivating technological innovation and entrepreneurship. He is also looking forward to sharing insights with and mentoring energy students.

Stakeholders in PJM may decide on Thursday to initiate a process to study and potentially price CO₂ emissions in its energy market. Such a process would provide a forum for much needed detailed discussion and analysis on what could be a critical link between CO₂ emissions policies and efficient markets, writes Jennifer Chen, senior counsel at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, in Greentech Media.

The Gulf Coast Power Association’s annual Spring Conference on April 16-17 began the day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear challenges to Illinois’ and New York’s zero-emission credit programs. The court’s decision was a stark reminder that individual states are driving changes to the country’s electric generation mix, often to the frustration of the grid operators charged with operating competitive, economically efficient markets, reports RTO Insider.

The World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition has released its annual report to provide an update on the Coalition’s activities over the last year. The report features articles from thought leaders to inspire and guide government and business leaders to increase their carbon pricing ambition.

The waters of the South China Sea face environmental peril that is "inseparable from the territorial disputes that plague it." Scientific cooperation is an action without legitimate substitute in the region and can offer a chart for protecting marine environments while enjoying their bounty sustainably, write the Nicholas Institute's Jackson Ewing and the University of South Carolina's James Borton in East Asia Forum.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will convene an international forum on April 25-27 in Beijing to discuss next steps for the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s plan to strengthen ties with other countries in its region through infrastructure investments. The forum will include sessions on addressing BRI’s environmental impacts.

Research projects that will explore connections between energy and health, improve the performance of renewable energy sources such as solar and thermoelectricity, and expand energy access through innovative and clean methods will receive funding in 2019 from the Duke University Energy Initiative's Energy Research Seed Fund. The program will award six grants to projects involving 21 faculty members from five Duke schools, investing a total of $215,186 in promising new energy research.